SEGA Serves Next-Gen Virtua Tennis 3 News

Before 2K Games Top Spin series SEGA dominated the tennis genre with the Virtua Tennis series; we've lost count of the many hours we spent in frenzied doubles matches on the Dreamcast - oh those were the days.

So there's certainly something to get excited about with the first of SEGA's "Road to E3" confirmations, in the shape of Virtua Tennis 3 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation3.

Returning with photo-realistic visuals (hasn't this been promised since the dawn of videogames?) and advanced player animations, Virtua Tennis 3 features the most detailed facial animations on their selected player as they battle to win tournaments across the world.

SEGA promises vast improvements to the Career mode, and takes a leaf out of Top Spin 2 book, by including a highly detailed Player Creation mode. Finally, Virtua Tennis just wouldn't be Virtua Tennis without the maddeningly addictive mini-games, with an array of new games joining popular ones from past titles.

"This is shaping up to be an outstanding title - a genuine next generation sports game," commented Matt Woodley, Creative Director of SEGA. "Instant appeal and all the best of the VT brand is being added to an array of new gameplay features. Virtua Tennis 3 provides a must have in-depth experience - though I'd say the graphics alone are reason to buy and the quality is so sharp and clear you can even see the veins on the players necks!"

Virtua Tennis 3 is slated for a release on the Xbox 360 and Playstation3 in Spring 2007; look out for much more soon.